Pour yourself a glass of H2O and discover some surprising benefits of drinking water.*
Makes up about 60% of your body
Supports the function of your cells and organs
Regulates body temperature
Keeps your skin healthy
Boosts alertness and supports brain function
Aids in digestion
Why you Need to drink water as you age
Adequate hydration is essential for the maintenance of health and physiological functions in humans. However, many older adults do not maintain adequate hydration, which is under-recognized and poorly managed. Older adults are more vulnerable to dehydration, especially those living with multiple chronic diseases. Dehydration is associated with adverse health outcomes in older adults, and acts as an independent factor of the hospital length of stay, readmission, intensive care, in-hospital mortality, and poor prognosis.
As people age, they need to drink more water to compensate for changes in their body temperature regulation.
dehydration can cause a number of ailments, including muscle pain, fatigue, and heat exhaustion.
older adults need to drink water even when they aren’t thirsty and to limit beverages such as soda, coffee, and alcohol, which can cause dehydration
dehydration doesn’t reduce heat loss or increase body temperature in older adults during exercise as it does in younger people, which may seem on the surface like a beneficial response.
But that means that when older people exercise, their bodies don’t adjust the rate of sweatloss toprevent further dehydration.
This results in greater strain on the heart, evidenced by a more pronounced increase in heart rate compared to younger men.
Until recently,the effects of dehydration on body temperature regulation came primarily from studies conducted on young adults.”
“While changes in the regulation of body heat, sweating, hydration, and thirst that tend to occur with age are well. The specific changes of underlying mechanisms. In particular, changes in response to dehydration and heat with exercise,”
“That said, given our aging population — with a 30-year gain in life expectancy over the last century, [with] roughly 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 each day, and declining birth rates — we are approaching the first time in human history in which our population will have more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18.
A reduced sensitivity in older people to elevated blood osmolality (concentration of salt) could explain the blunted effect of dehydration on hearing loss and body temperature regulation in older adults during exercise and in greater heat.
If you do not like the taste water, try adding a little lemon or orange to your water – very refreshing
